Speaking the same language

Re “Espanol on their tongues,” Column One, April 14

How nice that City Council members have joined business and government agencies in using Spanish. Perhaps this will help Caucasian Americans finally understand what it feels like to be part of a minority.

Elliot Rosenthal

Fullerton

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Finally, we have a city councilwoman giving up and learning Spanish in order to fulfill her job. Throughout the history of our country, we have accepted immigrants from all over the world. The immigrants immediately went to school (often at night) to learn the language of their new country to prepare themselves for getting good jobs and making sure that their children spoke English so they too could succeed.

Today, a large part of our population doesn’t understand English. What L.A. Councilwoman Jan Perry is doing is a great political tactic, but maybe she should -- together with the other council and school board members -- devote time to solving the major problem of educating immigrants and their children. Our schools would improve, the lives of the Spanish-speaking community would improve, and we would no longer have to print instructions in Spanish on everything from buses to ballots.

Bruce Fane

Encino